'Electricity... and waterproof clothing, definitely miss that. Ugh, I hate rainy springs.'
Willow looked out the kitchen door as heavy raindrops fell down in thick icy sheets.
'Oh and radio! I seriously miss listening to the radio!' Her thoughts reeled off more future amenities as she chopped up the herbs for the stew.
'And I'm sick to death of stew and broth! Give me some pizza or a curry... or chocolate! Anything else besides the same stupid, boring stew!'
It had been a few weeks since Willow had permanently settled at the fort, and the same daily routine had started to grate. Slowly, certain twentieth-first century conveniences had begun to creep back into her mind. Having travelled extensively across the country with Aidan and Rhiannon, new experiences and places had kept her mind engaged and distracted from reminiscing back to the future.
'And central heating! And my laptop... ugh! The internet! I miss the internet so much!'
Spending a prolonged time in the same place, the memories of the ease of cooking and the comfort of her previous life began to play occasionally on Willow's mind. Usually they had only occurred in moments of idleness, but recently her thoughts had strayed back again and again to them. This happened more often than she cared to admit. With her mind still on her lost possessions a millennia in the future, she gathered up the herbs and turned to the large cauldron over the fire. The venison stew had been bubbling for a while and would be served to the masses that now gathered in the tavern. The rowdy noise of the hunger horde could be heard clearly in kitchen.
Whether it was sound of the famished field workers and soldiers in the tavern or her concentration on the future, as Willow moved to scrape the chopping board into the stew, a sharp pain shot up her right arm. The wooden board clattered to the ground, along with the knife.
"Ow! Shit!... Ahh damn it!" Willow screeched, clutching her arm.
"God damn it!" she cursed herself again, examining the already shiny pink skin of her forearm left exposed by her rolled up sleeves. The burn began to sting sharply as she walked over to the stone sink. Thankfully the water within it was clean. Brinley had only recently drawn it from the well. To relieve the pain as quickly possible, Willow bent over the sink and dunked her arm under the blissfully cold water. The relief was heavenly and instant. Turning her arm around under the water, she could see that the burn covered a sizeable part of her forearm.
"Marvellous! Just marvellous!" She huffed as she shifted to a more comfortable position sitting next to the stone tub, "well that's going to leave a delightful scar!"
"Willow, are you all right?" A quiet voiced asked from the doorway. Brinley stood, dirty bowls and plates piled up in his arms.
"I'm fine Brin, I just caught the edge of the stove with my arm but I'll be fine. I'm just cooling it down," She said, smiling to reassure him. Brinley had become very protective of Willow, almost acting like the older sibling than the other way around.
"Willow, I'm going to get Vanora. She deals with the Numbers injuries all the time. She can help you," the boy decided.
"Duke, Lady, you sit with Willow until I come back," he commanded, sternly addressing the two young dogs beside him and dumping the dishes on the counter. The dogs were always beside him. Almost like fellow orphaned children, the dogs never left Brinley or Willow's side if they could help it. As if they had understood Brinley's words, Duke and Lady both gave a happy bark and tail wag in acknowledgement. They went bouncing over to Willow's position on the floor; Duke deciding that the best place to wait was directly on top of Willow. Lady, on the other hand, acted more like her name sake and happily sat leaning comfortable against Willow's back. Duke's legs had gotten longer and ganglier over the weeks. He was beginning to get too big to sit on anyone's lap any more, but that never seemed to deter him. After a lot of shuffling and shifting, the dog sat cheerfully on Willow's legs, his wagging tail bumping into her side.
It was in this position, almost hidden behind the central table and sandwiched between two large dogs, which Vanora came across her.
"What in the Gods names are you doing on the floor?" She asked as she caught sight of the top of Willow's head.
"... I caught my arm on the stupid pot," Willow grumbled.
"Let me have a look at it," Vanora said, the authority ringing clear in her voice of one who scrutinised many wounds of unruly children. She carefully studied the burn, being careful not to touch the sore pink area. Thankfully, Willow's arm had gone numb from the coldness of the water so that the stinging sensation had lessened. After some time, Vanora clicked her tongue having come to a mental conclusion.
"It's not as bad as some that I've seen; it'll still blister and probably be painful for a while. But it'll certainly be best to go see Dagonet for some to help it heal up quicker," she offered and carefully rolled Willow's sleeve back down to safely cover the burn.
"But what about the food? I can't leave! Who will serve it and have it ready for you and the girls to take out?" Willow stalled, not wanting to lay her work on anyone else, especially as a result of her own clumsiness.
"Willow, I have eleven children. You don't think I can feed those oversized children out there?" Vanora answered, indicating to the tavern's main room, "Trust me, if I can handle my kids, I can handle them lot. Now go, before I get Brinley to bring Dagonet here and disrupt him from his own work in the healing rooms."
"Fine! Although I have no idea where the rooms are," Willow spluttered before Vanora could make good on her threat. Nothing would have embarrassed Willow more than having one of the knights disturbed from his work and have any unnecessary attention drawn toward her. If she could go to the healing rooms, be quickly seen so that no fuss would be made about it. Get in and get out; that was the plan Willow decided.
"The rooms in the barracks, just past the main room, take a left when you get the latrines and then a right when you're at the library. If you end up at the armoury, you've gone too far and you'll need to double back on yourself. It's easy to find, you'll never miss it!" Vanora casually reeled off, her focus now fixed on the stew, "Now go! I've got hunger mouths to feed. Brinley, go let the serving girls know that I'm in the kitchen this noon so they'll have to step it up today. I shan't be there to shove them along when they start their flirting, so you'll have to be my eyes and ears out there."
With that Willow found herself quickly pulled up, dogs pushed off and out of the back door of the kitchen. Before she even had a chance to turn around, a cloak was unceremoniously thrown on her head to protect her from the rain and the door closed in her face.
"No chance of you repeating those directions again?" Willow meekly asked the wood of the door, a tad perplexed at her quick dismissal. As a cold drop of rain trickled down the back of her neck, her focus was brought her back to her given task. Huffing loudly as she wrapped the cloak around her; Willow turned and began towards the largest building in within the fort, the Roman compound that served as the King of Britain's stronghold. She started to pick her way down the main road, trying her best to avoid the vast patches of mud and puddles. Drawing past the marketplace on her right, it was completely deserted. Each of the stalls was empty. It made the fort eerily quiet, expect for the sound of the rain that turned the paving stones of the market square as dark as the rain clouds overhead.
'Wish they would hurry up and pave the roads as well as the market square,' she thought as she side stepped a particularly large and muddy puddle. No one else wanted to be out in this weather, she established, as not a single soul crossed her path on her way to the main building.
Standing in front of the gated courtyard, Willow came across her first obstacle: how did you get into the place without drawing attention? The building was as guarded as Fort Knox. Guards stood at every possible entrance and exit to the low standing villa. Each one looked as miserable as Willow felt as they all stood in the pouring rain, but at least she had the option of moving. Judging by the looks on their faces, Willow decided that asking to be let in probably wasn't going to yield any favourable results. So picking her route carefully, to avoid the squelching mud of the rest of the main street, she made her way to the rear of the building. Usually a back door for servants was situated there and would be easier to get in by and no miserable guards would get in the way.
She moved quickly as she hurried to get out of the cold down pour. Coming round a corner, Willow found some luck. Just on the south side, behind a large pillar, she spotted a woman with a wicker basket hitching up the bottom of her dress and swiftly running across the muddy road and into the shelter of a close by house. Without hesitation or thought, and in her progressively wetter cloak and boots, Willow ducked into the doorway the woman had vacated and out of the rain.
The corridor was dark, as the thick clouds outside restricted much light getting in through the all ready small lattice windows. Letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, Willow carefully removed her damaged arm and shook out the cloak. A large amount of rain fell to the floor and a puddle formed at her feet. Worried that someone would tell her off for the mess, folding the cloak over her good arm, she quickly moved off down the corridor in the hope of finding one of the rooms that Vanora had mentioned in her rattled off directions.
"Main room, main room..." Willow mumbled to herself as she came to a second corridor, identical to the one she had just come from.
"Where's creepy watcher dude when you need him?" She asked the air, wondering how helpful Tristan would be at directing her at that moment in time. Sticking her head round the corner, there was no indication of any of the rooms that Vanora had mentioned.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps sounded down the end of the second corridor. Willow's heart started rapidly beating in her chest as she leapt against the wall. She pressed her back hard into the stone, willing herself to become invisible as the noise came nearer.
'What if it's a guard and I'm going to be arrested for trespassing? What if I'm seriously not meant to be here?' Many more what if's raced through her mind as she stood frozen on the spot, immobile from fear of punishment for her thoughtless entry into the building.
"Are you okay?" A pleasant voice asked. Snapping her head round, Willow found herself face to face with a young dark haired girl. The girl's expression was alarmed but not hostile as Willow had expected, although confused was a more appropriate word to describe it. Detaching herself from the wall, Willow giggled nervously as she righted herself to face her.
"Vanora sent me here," Willow explained, hoping that reference of one of the knight's partners would cast away any suspicion as to why she might have appeared to be mysteriously lurking in the back corridors of the King's household.
"She told me to go to the healing rooms and see Sir Dagonet. I managed to burn my arm and she shoved me out of the tavern, took over making and serving lunch. So now I'm here. I came in through a doorway out the back. But now I'm lost as I've never been here before, well except once when I performed for the King at a Dinner with my fam..." Willow started to ramble hurriedly.
"Oooooh you're tree girl!" The girl smiled, interrupting Willow's nervous stream of chatter.
"..ily, but that was only in the main dining room. Wait, what? Tree girl?" Willow stopped short, her now being the one confused.
"You're that one that's got the same name as a tree," The girl added, "Willow, isn't it?"
Willow nodded slowly, still confused. She hadn't realised that she was known around the fort by any of its inhabitants except those whom she considered friends, and even they did not number that many.
"No problem. You need to take a left down there," She helpfully turned round and pointed in the right direction, "Take a right when you've passed the kitchens and it'll be down some steps with some large oak doors. You'll know it when you see it," she gestured with her hands helpfully.
"Wow, thanks...?"
"Elaine, my name is Elaine," She offered happily.
"Cool, well thanks again Elaine. Maybe I'll see you around the fort sometime," Willow said as she began to move off down the corridor Elaine had pointed towards.
"It is rather cool today with the rain I suppose," Willow heard the girl say quietly as she waved goodbye and continued on her path through the dark passageways. She had to be more guarded with her speech. Modern slang terms always drew confusion whenever she accidentally used one.
Humming softly to herself, Willow turned left at the end and walked further down a much wider and lighter hallway. The walls were decorated a light dusky red, not the plain grey stone that the previous one had been. The windows became bigger and the lattice tracery designs more complex. Items of furniture were placed against walls and the odd tapestry had been hung up. Clearly this was part of the more lived in section of the villa. Faintly, the sounds of a kitchen drifted towards Willow as she walked on. Walking in front of the door, she couldn't help but take a quick peek inside.
Inside the room, that put the tavern's kitchen to shame, a number of women dressed in aprons and head scarves rushed around several large wooden tables. The variety of food that was laid out across these tables had Willow's stomach grumbling in appreciation. Huge boughs of herbs hung down from the ceiling in an array of different hues of greens. The walls were lined with numerous shelves which were in turn adored with every sizeable pot and pan imaginable at the time. This was very clearly a very rich and abundant kitchen. After gazing wide-eyed at all the expensive items her kitchen did not possess, the heat from the fires of the room began to cause the burn on Willow's arm to throb. Heaving a sigh and taking one last longing look, she set herself back on course towards the healing rooms.
A few minutes walking on past the kitchen, Willow was pretty sure she had finally found her destination. Down a flight of short steps, a wide corridor led down to some very large and heavy-looking wooden doors, each with an over-sized metal ring glinting in the low light. She was sure they were the doors Elaine had meant. The aura of the passageway did not feel as Willow had thought it would be. With no windows, it was barely lit by a single burning torch that appeared to have just been hung hastily in the far corner by the doors. There was no furniture, only the imposing doorway. Suddenly, in complete contrast to the daunting corridor, the soft sound of a lute being played drifted through the doors to reach Willow's ears. She couldn't help the smile that came to her lips as she recognised the sound of the instrument. Leaping down the steps and making it to the doors, she imagined it was going to be a strain to open them. But the doors were cared for and the hinges well oiled that only with one arm, Willow managed to quietly open them wide enough to reveal the famously fierce Sir Dagonet, of the legendary King Arthur's round table, calmly sitting on a chair, his eyes closed and a happy, peaceful expression on his rugged face. His long powerful legs were crossed over to make a more comfortable playing position as he cheerfully strummed a cheerful tune upon Aiden's old lute.
A girly giggle bubbled up in Willow's at the charming sight. Unfortunately, the noise caught Dagonet's attention and he ceased playing to see the cause of the interruption.
"Oh no! Please keep playing!" Willow asked, sad that she had caused the beautiful music to stop. The tall knight stood up and placed the lute behind the chair he had vacated. He awkwardly cleared his throat.
"I don't like to play in front of an audience... I, urm, I'm not capable enough... not like how Aiden was," He replied modestly. His usual confident body language turned timid as he ducked his head and sheepishly scratched his neck. His eyed darted anywhere except Willow, as she took a few steps closer to stand in front of him.
"Nonsense! You sounded great! Clearly Aiden's tutelage helped," She smiled up at him. He finally looked down and answered with a similar smile that reached up to his crinkled clear blue eyes. It was an accomplishment that not many achieved with the usually stoic knight.
"Though your kind words flatter me, I sense that they are not the reason you have come to see me this rainy day," He politely inquired.
"Unfortunately so," Willow said, "I managed to catch my arm on the cauldron as I was finishing the stew in the kitchen." The kind knight took her still wet cloak from her as she gently rolled up the sleeve of her dress to reveal the stretch of tight pink skin on her forearm. Dagonet's brows knotted together as he, with the same gentle dexterity that he had displayed playing the lute, guided her to sit on one of the medical beds. Drawing up a chair next to her, he took Willow's arm between his two enormous palms. He carefully turned her arm from side to side to gauge the size and severity of the burn. Just as Vanora had done, he nodded to himself in silent conclusion of her injuries.
"It is not too burnt. Lavender oil twice a day will help ease the pain and help heal the skin faster. It's a common aliment Barric suffered from, the drunken fool. He was always burning himself cooking in that kitchen, too drunk half the time to see straight!" He got up from the chair and moved to a large alcove in a dark corner of the healing room. The recess in the wall was covered from top to bottom in assorted jars and tubs. Similar to the kitchen, varies herbs appeared stuffed into any affordable space amongst the jars of medication and ointments. Willow let her eyes drift over the alcove and took in the rest of the healing rooms. The afternoons that she had previously spent with Dagonet and Rhiannon, discussing remedies and herbs, had always been held in the family's rented house upon Rhiannon's insistence. She had wanted to teach Dagonet from her own supplies than to waste his that she considered were needed more than her own. Now Willow as able to fully indulge her curiosity of what the healing room were like.
In complete contrast to the hallway outside, the room was light and bright. The walls were pale and light from being sunlit by a series of windows close to the high ceiling. The room smelled pleasantly of linen and fresh air. None of the beds, that covered most of the floor space, were currently occupied. Each was a simple wooden frame with a straw mattress and a clean sheet to keep it all in place. Every bed also had a chair paired with it and each was positioned in neat rows across the uncommonly smooth mosaicked floor. They totalled twelve, Willow counted and she dreaded to imagine the change to the room when they were in use. It seemed so calm and peaceful; she hoped its serenity was never invaded.
"Hmmm... it would seem Barric's last burn used up the last of my supply here. But I know that Lady Gwen has her own personal store, I'll go and ask to borrow some for you," Dagonet spoke as he turned away from searching his supplies.
"Are you sure? I really don't want to be a fuss!" Willow tried to insist. Using the Queen's own personal medicine supply was not a way to keep one's head down.
"Well we cannot have you injured too long. Since you started at the tavern, I haven't seen the fort so peaceful! Clearly your cooking is the reason behind it. The foundation of happy people is well fed stomachs," Dagonet stated, "I shall return with the oil."
And with that, he had left the room and Willow to herself, opening and closing her mouth like a fish with a protest that died on her lips.
"Guess I'll just make myself comfortable..." She said the empty room. Getting up from the bed, she manoeuvred around the beds to take a closer look at Dagonet's supply of medicine, her curiosity getting the better of her.
A loud bang crashed through the quiet of the room as the door was roughly shoved open. Striding into the room, his focus on the blood stained cloth he held against his hand, was the brave Sir Gawain...
A/N: So after 2 years of complete writers block, I've finally managed to knuckle down at get back into my long neglected story. I hope it was worth the wait for all of you amazing people who are following this story. I'm sorry for any mistakes or errors, once I finished writing it, I wanted to publish and upload it it as soon as possible to avoid any more procrastination.
Thank you all for continuing to review and harass me to continue with it, it really has helped me through the break to keep me thinking about the story and that I needed to keep it in mind and eventually finish it.
Love to you all!
Pitta x